SassyLady
11-10-2020, 01:37 AM
Has anyone ever been close enough to a Llama to be spit on? Maybe it's a good thing even if disgusting.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine describe, in the journal Science, a new method to extract tiny but extremely powerful SARS-CoV-2 antibody fragments from llamas, which could be fashioned into inhalable therapeutics with the potential to prevent and treat COVID-19.
These special llama antibodies, called “nanobodies,” are much smaller than human antibodies and many times more effective at neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They’re also much more stable.
“Nature is our best inventor,” said senior author Yi Shi, Ph.D., assistant professor of cell biology at Pitt. “The technology we developed surveys SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing nanobodies at an unprecedented scale, which allowed us to quickly discover thousands of nanobodies with unrivaled affinity and specificity.”
To generate these nanobodies, Shi turned to a black llama named Wally—who resembles and therefore shares his moniker with Shi’s black Labrador.
https://scitechdaily.com/llama-nanobodies-could-be-a-powerful-new-weapon-against-covid-19/
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine describe, in the journal Science, a new method to extract tiny but extremely powerful SARS-CoV-2 antibody fragments from llamas, which could be fashioned into inhalable therapeutics with the potential to prevent and treat COVID-19.
These special llama antibodies, called “nanobodies,” are much smaller than human antibodies and many times more effective at neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They’re also much more stable.
“Nature is our best inventor,” said senior author Yi Shi, Ph.D., assistant professor of cell biology at Pitt. “The technology we developed surveys SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing nanobodies at an unprecedented scale, which allowed us to quickly discover thousands of nanobodies with unrivaled affinity and specificity.”
To generate these nanobodies, Shi turned to a black llama named Wally—who resembles and therefore shares his moniker with Shi’s black Labrador.
https://scitechdaily.com/llama-nanobodies-could-be-a-powerful-new-weapon-against-covid-19/